This story appeared in NPR. Read more here.
Vaccines for children under five are expected to be approved early next year, but officials and pediatricians say the slow uptake among hesitant parents for the 5-11 age group could extend to the youngest children too.
Dr. Francis Collins is director of the National Institutes of Health and spoke with NPR’s All Things Considered about the timeline for emergency use authorization of the vaccine for kids under 5, and the ongoing efforts to immunize those aged 5 to 11.
As with older Americans, before the vaccine makers can submit for FDA emergency use authorization, they must first conduct trials to ensure the vaccine is safe and effective.
For children under five, these trials are split into two different groups: those aged 2-5, and those aged six months to two years.
“Both of those have had data generated in a carefully controlled trial, and those are going to be submitted and [the] FDA will review them,” Collins said.
“But I think it will be by the first of the year before we have approval for those younger ages.”